


By Your Side

by darringtons



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Idiots in Love, M/M, Multiverse, Not Really Character Death, totally unnecessary jealousy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-10-25 07:49:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10759908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darringtons/pseuds/darringtons
Summary: As a general rule, Cisco didn’t go peeking in alternate universes unless he had to.





	By Your Side

**Author's Note:**

> [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3AP-Q91Rc0)

“How does it feel being rescued by your _sidekick_?” the asshole reporter asked, shoving his microphone in The Flash’s face. Cisco kind of hated that guy – not for calling him a sidekick, but for implying that he wasn’t worthy of saving anyone, let alone the Flash.

“He’s not my sidekick, he’s my partner,” Barry said in his Flash voice. “And he’s been saving my life since the day we met.”

“ _There’s a fire on 4 th and Simoren,_” Caitlin voice said in their ears.

“Gotta flash,” Barry said, grabbing Cisco’s hand and speeding away. Cisco wasn’t sure if the fluttering in his stomach was from the speed, or if it had been Barry’s words. Proximity to Barry had a tendency to do that.

At first he had been terrified by Barry’s offers to give him a lift. Speeding through the city that fast? No thanks.

Now though? Now he loves going for a ride with Barry almost as much as he loves Barry. Which was a lot, even if he never said it aloud.

And, okay, maybe the fact that is _Barry_ is part of the appeal.

They have been close almost since Barry woke up from the coma. Cisco’s never had a lot of friends, and he’s never made friends with someone so fast, but almost from the beginning there they were. During the day, he was in the lab, on comms if the Flash was out saving people, and they spent evenings at jitters, occasionally karaoke bars, or, more often, watching sci-fi moving on Cisco’s couch.

Now that he’s got a pretty good handle on his powers, he’s been spending more time in the field, more time with Barry. Of all the hours in the day, the only ones they weren’t together were when they were sleeping.

Ideally, Cisco would like them to be together then too, but he knew that would never happen.

 

They arrive at the scene of the fire, and Barry dropped him off at a safe distance before running in to help put out the fire. They both know Vibe’s powers were just about useless in this situation.

“Thanks, by the way” Cisco said, watching the fire die down. “For what you said, I mean.”

“It’s the truth,” Barry said. “You are so powerful, and you’re nobody’s sidekick.”

Cisco flushed slightly, and smiled. “Not as powerful as you.” Maybe someday, if Reverb had been right, but he wasn’t sure he was looking forward to that day.

“ _Stop flirting on comms,_ ” Harry said. “ _Some of us just ate._ ”

“Shut up, Harry,” Cisco replied.

 

The Flash put out the fire, and they stopped another bank robbery before Caitlin said things looked clear and they could all go home. It was getting late, after all.

 “Are you sure you don’t want me to just drop you off at home?” Barry asked. It was still mindboggling to Cisco that they could talk – and hear – over the wind blowing past them. But there were a number of things about Barry’s abilities that almost seemed to defy science, and Cisco only had time to research so many of them at one time. Even less time now that he’s playing honest-to-god super hero instead of the voice in one’s ear.

“Nah, my car’s parked at STAR Labs, and contrary to what you seem to believe, the Barry Allen Cab Service isn’t actually that reliable. Especially in the morning.”

Barry gasped. “I’m offended.”

“I speak only the truth,” Cisco said, grinning at him. Really, for someone with super speed, his frequent tardiness was truly astonishing.

Barry said something else, but this time the words were drowned out by wind. And rain. And … …

It was raining.

Everything had slowed down to normal speed, but it felt slower. Though the odd hue told him he was vibing, it felt more real than ever before.

As a general rule, Cisco didn’t go peeking in alternate universes unless he had to. At first it had been intriguing, and with the discovery of his powers and the fact that he _could_ look around the multiverse… he had given in to the temptation more than a few times. Seeing all the lives he could’ve lived lost appeal pretty quickly. He’d seen a lot of versions of himself where he was more successful, or happily in love. He’d seem himself as the CEO of STAR Labs, or sometimes Ramon Industries, and while he was happier with how things were on Earth-1, it’s the ones were he and Barry were _together_ that get to him. Seeing what he _could_ have only made him needlessly jealous of people who were essentially himself.

And seeing the less fortunate Cisco’s didn’t make him feel any better. The universes where he and Caitlin had fallen out, where one of them was evil, where he had to watch Barry be happy with someone else, where he never met the Flash.

None of the other Earths were _this_ one. So he’d stopped sneaking looks. But he couldn’t always control it either, sometimes it came on its own, showing him breachers to Earth-1, or just different Cisco’s of the multiverse. Like today.

 

He saw himself – not in costume, just goggles and a look of pure horror around a silent scream as he reached out toward something behind Cisco-1.

Cisco turned, following Other-Cisco’s line of sight, and there’s the Flash.

The Flash, with a metal rod jammed through his chest, blood oozing from his lips. For a moment, lightning flickered in his eyes, and then it faded to nothing.

Cisco screamed, mirroring his counterpart, as the vibe faded.

This—

This was something he could’ve gone his entire life without seeing, something he hoped _never_ to see. And now. Now these images would haunt him forever.

“Cisco?” Barry’s voice shook him completely from the vision. “Cisco, are you okay?”

“Nope,” Cisco said. Not even close.

“You vibed?” Barry asked.

Cisco nodded. He was glad it was raining, because he was pretty sure it was the only reason Barry couldn’t see him crying. “I’m not sure how… it just happened.”

Wait.

“Where are we?” he asked, looking around.

Barry looked around as well. “Hoffmann and Bennett,” he said.

Cisco shook his head. “That’s impossible.” The street looked familiar enough, but there was just one thing. “We should be able to see STAR Labs from here. It should be right there.”

Barry looked in the direction Cisco was pointing. They were just two blocks over from STAR Labs, it should’ve been plainly visible, even in the rain. But it wasn’t there.

“And when did it start raining?” Barry questioned, grabbing Cisco’s hand before flashing them toward where the Labs should be.

Cisco had a really bad feeling about this.

STAR Labs wasn’t there. Instead there was a crater, surrounded by high fences and hazard signs.

“Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore,” Barry said.

“It must’ve happened when I vibed,” Cisco said. “It was raining there too.” His breath catches in his throat.

“What did you see?” Barry asked again. “Any idea what caused it?”

Cisco shook his head. “It felt more real than before. Oh my god.” He doubled over, feeling like he was going to puke.

“Cisco!?” Barry put a hand on his back, comforting up.

Still, Cisco felt an overwhelming sense of loss. He knew that Barry was right here, next to him, and was not the same Barry he’d just watched die. But it felt like he’d lost him.

“Reverb said we were all connected,” Cisco said. “I think I’m getting some emotional kickback from another Cisco.”

“What happened?” Barry asked firmly.

Cisco shook his head. “Something terrible.”

 

Cisco wanted to leave this Earth. He wanted to leave and forget and never look back.

But Barry was, well, _Barry_ , and he was determined to make sure everything was okay before they left. And Cisco doesn’t really have the heart to tell him it’s never gonna be okay here.

“Wait, Bar,” Cisco said as they came around a corner into the park. With how fast Barry could move, Cisco hadn’t had time to think it through, but he’s certain this was a bad idea.

The park was in ruin. Every tree, every bench, every _thing_ in a 50 foot radius had been destroyed. Cracks ran through the ground where the concrete had been unable to stand up to the tremors.

“What happened here?” Barry asked.

“I told you: something terrible.” Cisco closed his eyes, trying to manage another wave of emotional kickback. “This was me,” he said, when he no longer felt like he was going to fall on his ass.

“What? You?”

Cisco  nodded. “This is what happens if my powers go unchecked. If I lose control.”

“Earth-23 Cisco did all this?” Barry asked. “He’s a bad guy here?”

Cisco almost laughed. “No, I don’t think so. He just lost control.”

“Then we should find him.”

Cisco wasn’t sure that would make anything better.

 

“I’m not someone you want to mess with right now,” Cisco-23 said, turning on them with his palms raised in an offensive pose, ready to strike. The moment he laid eyes on them, though, he dropped his hands and enveloped Barry in a bone crushing hug.

“I told you this was a bad idea,” Cisco-1 said to Barry. Then, to his doppelganger, he said, “It’s not him. He’s not your Barry.”

Cisco-23 pulled away. He looked lost and broken, but nodded. “I know. My Barry is gone.”

Barry looked between the two of them. “What the hell happened?”

“Can you give us a minute?” Cisco-1 asked him. “Just a minute.”

Barry, still confused, agreed. He sped away, just out of sight. As he does, Cisco could feel a pang of sadness from his counterpart, mixed with his own guilt. He shouldn’t have let Barry come here.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t-”

“How are you here?” Cisco-23 asked.

“I opened a breach. By accident, actually. I think… I think because of you.”

“I’m sorry.”

Cisco-1 shook his head. “Not as sorry as I am.” He didn’t have to ask to know what this other Cisco was feeling or going through, because he could still feel it. He wished the pain were unimaginable to him, but he _felt_ it.

“You can open breaches?” he asked. Cisco nodded. “I can’t do that. And you wear your hair up. That’s different.”

Cisco laughed a little. “Only when we’re running.” He’d learned the hard way that wind strewn hair only looked sexy in the movies. In real life, it meant not being able to see, looking silly, and ultimately, not being ready to attack at a moment’s notice.

“It’s good that you guys work together,” Cisco-23 asked, wiping tears from his face.

“You don’t? _Didn’t_. God, I’m sorry. I’m such an ass.”

“No. I stayed in the lab. He never wanted a sidekick, would’ve gotten in the way too much. This was the first time in a while-”

Cisco felt, once again, a wave of misery emanating from his counterpart. Cisco-1 took a step forward and hugged him tightly. It was strange, hugging himself, and he knew a hug would hardly fix anything when his whole world was broken, but he didn’t know what else to do.

“Thanks,” Cisco-23 said.

“How long ago…” Cisco-1 found himself asking. He kicked himself.

“A few hours.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be here sooner,” he said. Maybe he could’ve helped. “And I’m sorry I can’t stay.”

“I know. Your earth needs you.”

“What will you do?”

“Mope for a while, I’m sure,” Cisco-23 laughed mirthlessly. “But seeing you – the costume and all. My Central City is going to need someone real soon. I’m not a super hero, but… maybe that someone can be me, for a little while.”

“I’m sure you’ll be great,” Cisco-1 said, pulling out of the hug.

“Just do one thing for me?”

“Yeah?”

“Tell your Barry how you feel. If you don’t… I’m promise, you _will_ regret it.”

Cisco was dumbfounded for a moment. “Okay.”

“Can I see him one more time, before you go?”

Cisco nodded, and reached up to activate his comms. “Barry?”

Barry was next to him again in an instant, hardly causing a stir around them.

Cisco-23 hugged him again, and this time Barry hugged him back just as tightly. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Thank you,” Cisco-23 said in return, pulling away. “Good luck. Both of you.”

Barry took his Cisco’s hand and whisked them away. “Can you open a breach home?”

“Yeah,” Cisco said. He closed his eyes and thought about home, and also about losing Barry and about what the other Cisco had said.

The thing was, Cisco was happy. He would’ve liked to have something more with Barry, but he didn’t need it. He was perfectly happy with the way things were, and telling Barry how he felt? It was putting an awful lot of himself out there. And no, he didn’t think Barry would be a jerk about it, or react badly, and they would probably still be best friends after. But it would change things. Cisco wasn’t sure he was ready for that.

But he’d also made a promise.

 

“Ow,” Cisco said as they slowed to a stop.

“You okay?” Barry asked.

“Yeah.” Cisco shook off the strange feeling in his gut. “But I think I did it again. Huh.” He thought about it for a moment, before Barry poked him in the side, encouraging to talk about whatever he was thinking. “Well, we already know that our powers complement each other kind of weirdly. But it’s more than we realized. I think my subconscious, mixed with my powers and your speed… can vibe us through the multiverse.”

Barry looked around them, trying to get a bearing on their location. “Still not home,” he said. “Look at that.” His face grew into a grin. Cisco followed his finger to see what should have been Jitters, but in this universe was called _Good Vibes_.

Cisco was getting anything but good vibes from this.

“Come on, let’s check it out,” Barry said, speeding them closer. It was hard to see much from the outside, what with black curtains drawn so that light only escaped through the bottom few inches. Printed on the door in scrawling letters, were the words “Home of the Flash”.

“Maybe we shouldn’t,” Cisco said, but Barry was too curious for his own good. He pushed open the door enough for them both to see inside.

It was still a coffee shop, by the looks of things, but one that was merged with a jazz club. Three musicians were just finishing up a performance, fully captivating the entire room of patrons.

“Let’s give a warm thank you,” the emcee said, stepping on to the stage, clapping. She waited for the applause to die down before speaking again. “And now we have our very own, Tha Los.”

Barry was about to back out of the club when he saw who it was that was now taking the stage. Cisco.

A barista passed by the door carrying a plate of empty mugs. “It or out,” she said. “But please shut the door.” If she was at all fazed by them being in costume, she didn’t show it.

“We should go,” Cisco said, attempting to pull Barry away.

“Oh, come on, we gotta see this.”

Cisco was certain that they did _not_ have to see this, but Barry won out. They quietly slipped into the club and sat down at an empty table tucked away in the back corner, where hopefully no one would notice them.

“ _I see you,_ ” someone sang, and took Cisco a moment to realize that it was _him_. Cisco-42. “ _In a lonely place. How could you be so blind?_ ”

Damn.

He looked to Barry, who’s jaw was hanging slightly slack in shock.

“ _You’re still regretting the love you left, left behind_  
I seen you go through the changes  
Sitting alone each night  
Are you expecting to find the love, love that's right

 _Darling, open your eyes._ ”

“Holy. Shit,” Cisco-1 said.

“Uh-huh,” Barry said, nodding slowly. He was mesmerized.

“ _Let me show you light  
Girl, you never find a love that's right”_

And Cisco was dragged in too. It was surreal, watching someone who was him, but so very not. Cisco-42 could sing, really well. He wasn’t dancing, just moving his hips, and while Cisco-1 had moves, Cisco-42 was like… really hot.

If the look on Barry’s face was anything to go on, he thought so too.

And that, that just was not fair.

 _“Darling open your eyes_  
Let me show you the light  
Girl, you think you’re so wise, you’re so wise”

Cisco-42 backed away from the mike stand and sat down the grand piano because of-fucking-course he could play.

“Have you been holding out on me?” Barry whispered, leaning across the table. “Why do I do karaoke with Caitlin?”

“I assure you, that is not in Earth-1 Cisco’s skill set. At all.”

“ _There are times when you need someone_  
I will be by your side  
I'll take my chances before they pass, pass me by”

Part of Cisco wanted to drag Barry out of the club and forget all about this Earth, but this was almost too incredible and bizarre to miss.

 _“Oh darling, there is a light that shines_  
Special for you and me  
You need to look at the other side, you'll agree”

Cisco-42 stood, still playing the piano expertly (in a way that Cisco-1 hoped at least made Dante jealous), moving his hips to the beat again.

And the longer he listened, the more he felt like Cisco-42 was trying to tell him something, like the whole fucking multiverse was screaming at him.

 “ _Darling open your eyes_  
Let me show you the light  
You may never find a love that's right”

They really should get out of here. He looked over to Barry to say as much, but Barry is completely enthralled, watching Cisco-42 like—

Like he was sex on two legs, which Cisco-1 happened to agree with, but seeing Barry look at him like that. Looking at his doppelganger in a way he’s never looked at his own Cisco. It sent a surge of jealousy through him. Which he knew was dumb, but there it was nonetheless.

Cisco-42, or _Tha Los_ , finished his performance with a promise to be back in just a few minutes. From their table just around the corner from the bar, the Earth-1 breachers were able to hear most of his conversation with the barista.

“We’ve got a couple groupies in costume, probably hoping to spot the Flash,” she told him.

Cisco-42 sighed. “Don’t they know he’s gone?”

‘Gone?’ Barry mouthed at Cisco, who shrugged. He didn’t know the history of this Earth, and he wasn’t too keen on learning about it.

Cisco-42 walked around the corner, looking straight at them. “Nice costumes,” he said. “Good quality. And I respect the Vibe gear, even if it’s a little outdated, and he almost _never_ teamed up with the Flash. Look, I know you came here hoping to meet _him_. But he’s dead. And the sooner you all realize that, the sooner we can all move on.”

Cisco-1 removed his glasses at the same time Barry took his cowl down.

“Oh,” Cisco-42 said. “Well, that changes things.” He sat down in the empty chair next to Barry. “Bartholomew.”

Barry opened his mouth, then closed it again in confusion. “Just Barry, actually.”

“Barry, then,” he corrected. “I’m Francisco Ramon,” he said, reaching out to shake hands. “Around here I’m Tha Los, or sometimes Vibe.” He shook hands with Cisco next, raising an eyebrow.

“Cisco,” he introduced. “Also Vibe, but never Tha Los.”

Francisco smiled at them both. “So what brings you to my side of the multiverse?”

“An accident,” Cisco said. “One I’m still trying to wrap my head around. We were pulled into another universe when their Barry died.”

“I felt it,” Francisco said.

“You did?” Barry asked.

He nodded. “We all did. Doesn’t explain what you’re doing _here_.”

“I was trying to get us home,” Cisco said. “I guess I missed.”

“Happens sometimes,” Francisco said. “Though, it might be a little bit my fault. The reverberations from the loss of that other _Barry_ had me thinking about mine. Bartholomew, I mean.”

“So he’s really… gone?”

Francisco nodded. “Thirteen months. It’s good seeing you two working together though. We could never make it work.”

“You weren’t friends?” Barry asked.

“Not exactly.” Francisco laughed. “We were married.”

Cisco wished he could just disappear. “Excuse me,” he said instead, getting up and walking to the bathroom. This was too much.

He went to the sink and splashed a handful of water on his face, wishing he could scrub away every memory associated with this day.

He had seen Earth’s where things had gone wrong. But things had gone right here. _Francisco_ could sing, and play piano, and was probably the light of his parent’s life. And somewhere along the line, he’d met _Bartholomew_ and they’d fallen in love and gotten married and were _happy_.

And it had gone wrong somewhere too.

That was something he hadn’t thought about in the multiverse. Even if everything went perfectly, one day it would end. One day, one of them would die and leave the other alone. And the trend was that Cisco was alone.

He took a deep breath and dried his face. This was exactly the reason he stayed out of the multiverse. He didn’t want to know.

Time to go home.

He walked back out of the bathroom just in time to see Francisco placing a light kiss on Barry’s lips. Cisco stopped in his tracks as Francisco apologized, but Barry kissed him back. It was short and chaste, but that surge of jealousy came back in full force. Barry smiled and squeezed Francisco’s hand as they said good bye. And then he watched as Barry absolutely, _definitely_ checked him out as he moved back toward the stage.

Cisco grabbed his glasses from the table and barely even looked at Barry before he headed to the door.

“Cisco,” Barry said, chasing after him. “Cisco, slow down.” In a flash, he was at his side. “What’s the matter?”

“What’s the matter?” Cisco asked, forcing out a laugh. “You’ve totally got the hots for him, don’t you?”

Barry’s face fell into an unreadable, guarded expression. “I did think you were a homophobe,” he said. And oh, that would’ve been laughable in any other circumstance. But not now.

“Him being a guy is not the problem,” Cisco said harshly.

“Then what?”

“The problem is: I’m in love with my best friend, and I’ve spent the last two years accepting the fact that he’s never going to return those feelings because he’s _straight_. And I was okay with that. I’ve accepted the way things are and I was happy. Except, apparently I was wrong. So I get to be jealous of a whole multiverse of girls, boys, and now my own fucking doppelganger.”

He can’t believe he said all of that out loud, and he wished it had come with some kind of relief, but it hadn’t. He turned and started to walk away.

“Cisco,” Barry said softly, taking a step to follow.

Cisco flicked his wrist behind him, cutting of Barry’s connection to the speed force. Not permanently, but just enough to keep him from speeding after him.

“Cisco,” Barry said again, louder.

Even without the speed force, Barry caught up to him quickly.

“Cisco, will you stop for just a second?”

“I’m sorry,” Cisco said, still refusing to look at him. He flicked his wrist again, reconnecting him to the speed force. “That was uncalled for.”

“I don’t care about that,” Barry said, shaking his head. “Cisco, will you please just look at me?”

Cisco didn’t want to, didn’t want to see the look in Barry’s eyes, whatever that look may be.

But it was hard to say no to Barry. “What?” He looked up, finding those eyes. He wasn’t expecting the emotion that shown there.

“What ever you _think_ I feel for him,” Barry said, pointing back to Good Vibes and Francisco. “I promise it’s nothing compared to what I _actually_ feel for you.”

Cisco’s mouth fell open in surprised. “What?” he asked again, the edge gone from his voice.

“Sure, he’s hot, and _damn_ he can sing. But he’s not my Cisco. He’s not you.”

Barry face was so close to his now, just one fraction of a movement and—

“What are you doing?” Cisco asked quietly.

“Can I kiss you?” Barry asked.

What. “Yeah,” Cisco said, filled with uncertainty. “I mean, yes.”

Barry smiled and closed the distance between them. His lips were soft, and his arms wrapped around Cisco making him feel warm and safe and _right_. Cisco kind of couldn’t believe this was actually happening.

Barry pulled away, pulling him into a tight hug. “I love you too, Cisco. I have for a while.”

“Oh,” was the only response Cisco could muster.

“Can we go home now?” Barry asked.

Cisco nodded. “Yeah.” He’d had enough dead Barry’s to last a lifetime. “Maybe no speed this time though.” Too much risk of vibing them into another wrong universe. He reluctantly pulled away from Barry and held out his hands, focusing on _home_.

The breach opened in front of them, warping space around it.

Barry took his hand and together they slipped through the breach, stumbling out the other side into their Earth-1 Breach Room.

“Looks like the right place?”

“It is,” Cisco assured him. He was tired, just wanted to sleep and wash the hurt from this day behind them. “Take me home?” he asked. And then, “Oh my god, I didn’t mean like that.”

Barry laughed and threw his arm around Cisco’s shoulder. “Uh huh. Sure you didn’t.” He kissed his temple and started to lead them out of the room.

“Barry! Cisco!” Caitlin exclaimed, appearing in the hallway ahead of them. “Thank god you’re both alright! We’ve been so worried.” She pulled them both into a quick hug. “What happened? Where have you been?” she asked. She took her phone from her pocket, no doubt sending a text to the rest of the team.

“How long were we gone?” Barry asked.

“Fourteen hours,” Caitlin said.

“Didn’t feel that long,” Barry said, just as Cisco was saying “Felt longer.”

“Come on, let’s get you check out,” Caitlin said, leading them back to the cortex, where Iris and Joe were already waiting.

“Oh thank god,” Iris said, pulling them both into a hug. She released them after a moment, and Joe took her place.

“Are you boys okay?”

“We’re fine,” Barry said.

Caitlin cleared her throat. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

Joe’s phone chimed. “I have to get back to the station. Call me if you need anything,” he said, shaking Barry’s hand.

“I should go too,” Iris said. “Sorry! I’m glad you’re both okay.” She hugged them again before leaving.

Caitlin hooked them both up to a heartrate monitor as she conducted her usual thorough examination. Barry kept shooting Cisco looks, sometimes just a smile, other times like he was worried – like he could tell that Cisco was feeling the loss of Barry-23 still.

“Please, for the love of whatever deity you favor, stop making bedroom eyes at each other,” Harry said, earning a “Shut up, Harry,” from Cisco, Barry, and Caitlin.

“Cisco, I’m seeing spikes in your vitals every few minutes. Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”

Cisco nodded. “It’s kickback from Earth-23.”

“Still?” Barry asked.

“It’s fading, but still there.”

“I’m still concerned by what sort of long term affect your connection to Cisco-23 might have,” Caitlin said. They hadn’t filled her in on everything, but enough that she understood. “If you’re experiencing his traumas…”

“We’re all connected,” Cisco said. “I don’t think that something that’s going away any time soon. But this is a unique circumstance. Cisco-42 said all of us could feel the reverberations.”

“Still, I’d like to keep you under observation.”

Cisco groaned. “Cait, I really just wanna go home and sleep. In my own bed, not here.”

Caitlin pursed her lips.

“Please. I promise I’ll check in, and you can observe me all you want tomorrow. Or later.” He had no idea what time of day it was.

“Fine,” she said. “But I’m sending someone to check on you in a few hours.”

“Deal,” he said.

“So we can go?” Barry asked.

Caitlin nodded and removed them from their monitors. “Go home, get some rest.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Cisco said just before Barry whisked them away. Cisco was pretty sure he heard a lewd comment from Harry, but had no chance to respond.

 

They reached the door to his apartment in no time, and Cisco fumbled with the keys for a moment before Barry took them and unlocked the door.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Barry asked.

“Yeah.”

Cisco stepped into the apartment, not letting go of Barry’s hand. Barry though, seemed hesitant to follow.

“Stay?” Cisco asked, loosening his hold. “No funny business. I just…” He still felt like he’d lost Barry, even though he knew he was alive and well and had just confessed his feelings.

“You’re still feeling what he’s feeling,” Barry concluded.

Cisco nodded. “I’m kind of afraid of what will happen if I wake up and don’t know where you are,” he said honestly.

Barry enveloped him in another hug as they made their way to the bed. “I’m right here.”


End file.
